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Move over Delta, United and American. Another savage fare war is under way, driving down the price of a bus ride between Manhattan and Washington to $5.
Five dollars.
That is the lowest price on the route since 1952, when Truman was President and Greyhound charged $5.05 -- a sale price then, too. And it is less than the trip cost in 1939, when LaGuardia was Mayor and the bus ride down to Washington cost $5.50.
In a money-losing battle, the country's two-largest bus companies, Greyhound and Peter Pan Trailways, have knocked the price down three times in the last three weeks from its $25 starting point. Doesn't Cover the Costs
[109th Congress House Hearings]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access]
[DOCID: f:28267.wais]
CURBSIDE OPERATORS: BUS SAFETY AND ADA REGULATORY COMPLIANCE
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(109-52)
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
HIGHWAYS, TRANSIT AND PIPELINES
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
MARCH 2, 2006
__________
Printed for the use of the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
____
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
30-298 WASHINGTON : 2006
May 29, 2008
FMCSA Administrator Hill Reports on Curbside Bus Carriers
Many of you likely spent at least part of the holiday weekend traveling – whether driving to the beach or perhaps flying somewhere to visit friends and family. Last week, I traveled from Washington, D.C. to New York City for a conference and decided to personally experience a relative newcomer to the transportation industry: “curbside” bus carriers.
Curbside buses transport passengers from predetermined locations after the rider purchases a ticket from a website, a local vendor or the driver. They post their schedules on-line, generally operate without ticket offices and make their stops street side instead of bus terminals. Besides those distinctions, curbside buses are held to the same federal safety requirements as the rest of the industry.
As I learned when purchasing my tickets, low costs are the big draw. Curbside carriers typically offer incentives to buy tickets early. For example, some curbside bus companies offer seats for $1 to the first purchasers. From there, the price increases as fewer seats become available. Buying a seat at the last minute, however, will still only cost about $35 for a one-way trip to NYC. In fact, I paid more for a taxi to take me 33 blocks in Manhattan than I did for the cost of the five-hour trip from Washington.
I tried two different companies – one for the ride up to New York and another for the return trip to Washington. Both were comfortable and affordable. Most importantly, however, they both operated in a safe manner, were familiar with our safety regime and both drivers appeared quite capable. And, for those of you who are wondering, I did not reveal my identity during either trip.
As the administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) – the federal agency that regulates the safety of interstate trucks and buses – I’ve always maintained that interstate passenger carriers have long been and continue to be among the safest mode of transportation in the United States, something that was demonstrated to me yet again last week. Our agency is committed to rigorous oversight of the bus industry.
Bush Officials Criticized for Privatization
By Lyndsey Layton and Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, March 17, 2008; A01
...
"It's almost sort of un-American that we should be forced to sit and be stuck in traffic," said D.J. Gribbin, the department's general counsel and liaison to the White House, who worked closely with Duvall on the project.
For Gribbin, Duvall and Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, the goal is not just to combat congestion but to upend the traditional way transportation projects are funded in this country. They believe that tolls paid by motorists, not tax dollars, should be used to construct and maintain roads.
They and other political appointees have spent the latter part of President Bush's two terms laboring behind the scenes to shrink the federal role in road-building and public transportation. They have also sought to turn highways into commodities that can be sold or leased to private firms and used by motorists for a price. In Duvall and Gribbin's view, unleashing the private sector and introducing market forces could lead to innovation and more choices for the public, much as the breakup of AT&T transformed telecommunications.
...
William Millar, who heads the American Public Transportation Association, says he set up three appointments with Duvall to try to influence how the Urban Partnership money would be spent, but each was cancelled. "They just see no role for transit," Millar said.
Duvall, 35, is a fourth-generation Washingtonian whose father is a well-connected lawyer. He had no transportation experience when he was plucked from his job handling corporate mergers and acquisitions at Hogan & Hartson and was offered a political appointment at the DOT in 2002. "It was a friend of a friend of a friend sort of thing," he said
Transportation system congestion is one of the single largest threats to our nation's economic prosperity and way of life. Whether it takes the form of trucks stalled in traffic, cargo stuck at overwhelmed seaports, or airplanes circling over crowded airports, congestion costs America an estimated $200 billion a year. In 2003, Americans lost 3.7 billion hours and 2.3 billion gallons of fuel sitting in traffic jams and wasted $9.4 billion as a result of airline delays. Congestion is also affecting the quality of life in America by robbing us of time that could be spent with families and friends and in participation in civic activities.
We don't believe that this is an inevitable fate. In May 2006 the U.S. Department of Transportation announced a major initiative to reduce transportation system congestion. This plan, the National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America's Transportation Network (often referred to as the "Congestion Initiative"), provides a blueprint for Federal, State, and local officials to consider as we work together to reverse the alarming trends of congestion. It includes six major components: (1) Urban Partnership Agreements; (2) Public Private Partnerships; (3) Corridors of the Future; (4) Reducing Southern California Freight Congestion; (5) Reducing Border Congestion; and (6) Increasing Aviation Capacity. This webpage provides an overview of each of the components, as well as selected documents and links regarding either specific components or the Congestion Initiative as a whole. For additional information on a specific component (e.g., Urban Partnership Agreements), click on the link located either under the component's thumbnail image or at the top of this page.
U.S. Approves $1.3 Billion for 2nd Avenue Subway
By WILLIAM NEUMAN
The long-dreamed-of Second Avenue subway will take another important step toward becoming a real thing of concrete and steel today, as the federal government plans to announce that it has formally approved $1.3 billion in financing for the project's first phase.
Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters said in an interview that the money would be paid out over the next seven years as construction progresses on the subway's first leg, which will have stops on Second Avenue at 92nd, 86th and 72nd Streets and at 63rd Street and Lexington Avenue.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority began preliminary work on the line after Gov. Eliot Spitzer held a ceremonial groundbreaking in April.
Ms. Peters said the federal money would pay for about one-third of the work on the first phase, which is expected to cost more than $4 billion. The first leg is scheduled to open in 2014, and it will run as an extension of the Q line.
Regional transportation plan gets cold response from feds, state board
By Jim Redden
The Portland Tribune, Feb 13, 2007 (28 Reader comments)
For months Metro leaders have said that the old way of solving transportation problems no longer works.
Led by Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder, officials at the regional planning agency repeatedly have said that building new highways is no longer the solution for the area’s growing congestion problems.
Instead, Burkholder and the others have said that the Regional Transportation Plan to be adopted next year will stress such land-use goals as encouraging people to live closer to where they work and shop, in part by encouraging more mass transit.